Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Co-UDlabs (Building Collaborative Urban Drainage research labs communities)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-11-01 bis 2024-04-30
The aim of the Co-UDlabs project is to integrate research and innovation activities in the field of Urban Drainage Systems (UDS). Because of the pressing challenges of population growth, the climate emergency, untreated stormwater, and public health threats caused by emerging pollutants and pathogens, smart, resilient, and sustainable urban drainage systems are more essential than ever in the transformation of our urban environment. In this context, large-scale research facilities can be crucial to promote research and pathbreaking approaches to a new way of designing and implementing innovations in urban drainage systems.
Co-UDlabs aims to integrate 17 key large-scale research facilities across Europe and provide a transnational multidisciplinary collaborative research infrastructure that will allow stakeholders, academic researchers, and industry in the urban drainage and water sectors to collaborate, share ideas, and co-produce innovative technology and academic research.
Co-UDlabs addresses the following specific objectives:
a) A culture of co-operation among Research Infrastructures and their providers, engaging with the urban drainage community and developing a more open and diverse research and innovation environment.
b) Free-of-charge Transnational Access through competitive, open global calls for proposals, making 17 top-level installations available to whole communities of researchers and stakeholders.
c) Improved quality and quantity of services offered at the European level in the urban drainage and water management sectors, expanding the current horizons of sustainability research through a diversity of methods, techniques, and technical expertise.
Co-UDlabs aims to integrate 17 key large-scale research facilities across Europe and provide a transnational multidisciplinary collaborative research infrastructure that will allow stakeholders, academic researchers, and industry in the urban drainage and water sectors to collaborate, share ideas, and co-produce innovative technology and academic research.
Co-UDlabs addresses the following specific objectives:
a) A culture of co-operation among Research Infrastructures and their providers, engaging with the urban drainage community and developing a more open and diverse research and innovation environment.
b) Free-of-charge Transnational Access through competitive, open global calls for proposals, making 17 top-level installations available to whole communities of researchers and stakeholders.
c) Improved quality and quantity of services offered at the European level in the urban drainage and water management sectors, expanding the current horizons of sustainability research through a diversity of methods, techniques, and technical expertise.
In its initial 36 months, Co-UDlabs has been working significantly on strengthening its Transnational Access (TA) programme. By the end of Reporting Period 2 (RP2), the project had effectively launched three calls for access to its 17 facilities. These calls were disseminated and boosted through two online webinars, two hackathons, and a launch workshop held at the Novatech 2023 conference (Lyon, July 2023). As a result, following three TA Calls, Co-UDlabs’ TA programme engaged 227 user-group members from 26 countries, led by user-group leaders from 16 distinct countries. After three years of TA operations, Co-UDlabs has approved 31 proposals, with industries, water utilities, or public administrations leading 33% of them. 13 projects have been finalized, and 4 projects from the 2nd TA Call have already commenced in RP2.
During RP2, the consortium collaborated to enhance its Joint Research Activities (JRAs) and Networking Activities (NAs) as outlined in Co-UDlabs’ Grant Agreement. For dissemination of its outcomes and collaborative work, Co-UDlabs has also strengthened its online presence and activity. The project’s website has been visited by an average of 90 unique visitors monthly, and nearly 70 news and event reports have been posted online so far. The project’s LinkedIn account, which supports Co-UDlabs’ activities, currently has +500 members and has recorded over 24,000 impressions and nearly 20,000 profile views in the past year.
Co-UDlabs managed to organize workshops and public events at major international conferences such as IWA’s World Water Congress (September 2022), the 10th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks (SPN10, August 2022), and Novatech 2023 (July 2023). An extensive review allowed Co-UDlabs to establish a state-of-the-art overview of the needs and strategic interests of the UDS community which was published at Urban Water Journal.
Co-UDlabs’ Work Packages have also focused on aligning methodologies, procedures, and data from the consortium’s different facilities, fostering the exchange of best practices among researchers, which has resulted in 19 capacity-building short exchange travels. The consortium has extensively worked on training and education activities with industry, the research community, and the general public — including regulators, public utilities, and users. By the end of RP2, Co-UDlabs had already organized 2 events for early-stage researchers to showcase the work of young and junior researchers from member institutions and other partners, 4 online webinars, 1 workshop on UD practice and research needs, and 2 tailored workshops for industry on flow measurements in rising mains and monitored data uncertainty assessment.
Co-UDlabs partners have published 5 scientific papers and 10 datasets. Co-UDlabs members have also participated in 14 scientific conferences, 14 national events related to the UD and water management sectors, and 2 exhibition trade events. The project has developed and released new open services for the broad community, such as the Urban Drainage Metrology Toolbox and an open database of CCTV image defects and a related Deep Learning Toolbox. Initial results on the development of scalable hydrodynamic performance protocols and pollution and stormwater assessment are available in Co-UDlabs Zenodo community as part of the project deliverables. Currently, within the Joint Research Activities, more experimental work is being conducted, and efforts are being made to consolidate the already proposed methods.
During RP2, the consortium collaborated to enhance its Joint Research Activities (JRAs) and Networking Activities (NAs) as outlined in Co-UDlabs’ Grant Agreement. For dissemination of its outcomes and collaborative work, Co-UDlabs has also strengthened its online presence and activity. The project’s website has been visited by an average of 90 unique visitors monthly, and nearly 70 news and event reports have been posted online so far. The project’s LinkedIn account, which supports Co-UDlabs’ activities, currently has +500 members and has recorded over 24,000 impressions and nearly 20,000 profile views in the past year.
Co-UDlabs managed to organize workshops and public events at major international conferences such as IWA’s World Water Congress (September 2022), the 10th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks (SPN10, August 2022), and Novatech 2023 (July 2023). An extensive review allowed Co-UDlabs to establish a state-of-the-art overview of the needs and strategic interests of the UDS community which was published at Urban Water Journal.
Co-UDlabs’ Work Packages have also focused on aligning methodologies, procedures, and data from the consortium’s different facilities, fostering the exchange of best practices among researchers, which has resulted in 19 capacity-building short exchange travels. The consortium has extensively worked on training and education activities with industry, the research community, and the general public — including regulators, public utilities, and users. By the end of RP2, Co-UDlabs had already organized 2 events for early-stage researchers to showcase the work of young and junior researchers from member institutions and other partners, 4 online webinars, 1 workshop on UD practice and research needs, and 2 tailored workshops for industry on flow measurements in rising mains and monitored data uncertainty assessment.
Co-UDlabs partners have published 5 scientific papers and 10 datasets. Co-UDlabs members have also participated in 14 scientific conferences, 14 national events related to the UD and water management sectors, and 2 exhibition trade events. The project has developed and released new open services for the broad community, such as the Urban Drainage Metrology Toolbox and an open database of CCTV image defects and a related Deep Learning Toolbox. Initial results on the development of scalable hydrodynamic performance protocols and pollution and stormwater assessment are available in Co-UDlabs Zenodo community as part of the project deliverables. Currently, within the Joint Research Activities, more experimental work is being conducted, and efforts are being made to consolidate the already proposed methods.
At this stage of project implementation, the primary advancements in urban drainage and water management can be categorized into three main areas:
a) The overview of current needs, developments, and requirements in the UDS community and industry has been the backbone of Co-UDlabs’ contribution to the EU-wide institutional debate on the future of water management and wastewater treatment regulation in the Union.
b) The project has begun to yield results in terms of service enhancements and the development of monitoring technologies. The progress in sensor technologies has enabled the development and testing of new imaging technologies for measuring water quantity and quality, as well as cost-effective temperature sensors for sediment accumulation. The release of the Urban Drainage Metrology toolbox has solidified a method for assessing the uncertainty of monitored data. Furthermore, the introduction of new inspection techniques for pipe assets and a Deep Learning Toolbox for analyzing recorded CCTV images will facilitate urban drainage assets management tasks.
c) The successful launch of the TA programme shows great promise as a platform for mutual learning, knowledge sharing, and fostering innovation. The European Commission has expressed strong support for maximizing opportunities to empower user groups and participants and to expand access to Co-UDlabs facilities. Co-UDlabs partners are committed to meeting the targets set in its Grant Agreement in terms of TA projects.
a) The overview of current needs, developments, and requirements in the UDS community and industry has been the backbone of Co-UDlabs’ contribution to the EU-wide institutional debate on the future of water management and wastewater treatment regulation in the Union.
b) The project has begun to yield results in terms of service enhancements and the development of monitoring technologies. The progress in sensor technologies has enabled the development and testing of new imaging technologies for measuring water quantity and quality, as well as cost-effective temperature sensors for sediment accumulation. The release of the Urban Drainage Metrology toolbox has solidified a method for assessing the uncertainty of monitored data. Furthermore, the introduction of new inspection techniques for pipe assets and a Deep Learning Toolbox for analyzing recorded CCTV images will facilitate urban drainage assets management tasks.
c) The successful launch of the TA programme shows great promise as a platform for mutual learning, knowledge sharing, and fostering innovation. The European Commission has expressed strong support for maximizing opportunities to empower user groups and participants and to expand access to Co-UDlabs facilities. Co-UDlabs partners are committed to meeting the targets set in its Grant Agreement in terms of TA projects.